Flying Fox continues her golden reign in Slovenia

New South Wales Institute of Sport (NSWIS) athlete Jessica Fox has continued her dominant ICF Canoe Slalom World Cup season, winning K1 gold at the Ljubljana-Tacen World Cup in Slovenia on Saturday night.

It’s Fox’s fourth World Cup gold medal in three weeks, after the 29-year-old won K1 and C1 gold in Prague last weekend, and C1 gold i Augsburg the week before.

Fox, who has won a medal at every Slovenian World Cup she has contested since 2013, was the fastest qualifier in the women’s kayak on Friday and backed up that form to also place first in Saturday’s semi final.

The Sydneysider put down a near-flawless run in the final (96.22s) to claim the gold with a 2.69s margin over Ukraine’s Viktoriia Us, with Germany’s Elena Lilik rounding out the podium in third.

The four times Olympic medallist said she was particularly pleased to secure the K1 gold on Saturday, after a rare, missed gate on Friday cost her a C1 podium, when she finished 10th.

“I am really pleased, I’m really proud of that run and to come back after yesterday’s result,” Fox said.

“Tacen is always such a challenging course, and I knew that Elena [Lilik] and Vicki [Viktoriia Us] did some pretty good runs, so I’m just happy to put down a great race.

“I think I have a kind of love-hate relationship with Tacen. I can’t be mad at the course today, but I definitely was feeling it yesterday. It’s definitely been amazing to come back and race here. The crowds are always really great to be in front of, and the course is always challenging.

“We’ve had three weeks of back-to-back racing, which is quite tough, physically demanding and mentally taxing. This new program is pretty challenging because there are no rest days, so I’m looking to a few days off,” she said.

NSWIS athletes Tim Anderson and Lucien Delfour both qualified for the Men’s K1 final, with Anderson finishing 7th and Delfour 10th.

In Friday’s C1 finals, Noemie Fox (NSWIS) and Tristan Carter narrowly missed out on a podium, both placing 4th in the women’s and men’s events respectively.

At his debut Senior World Cup, 2022 Junior World Champion Mark Crosby also qualified for the Men’s C1 final, with the 19-year-old placing 10th.

The ICF Canoe Slalom World Cup in Ljubljana-Tacen, Slovenia continues tonight with the Kayak Cross event from 4.45pm AEST, streamed live via ICF’s Recast platform.

The finals will be live on Kayo Sports from 8.15pm – 9.30pm.

Story courtesy of Paddle Australia